Love by the Slice

by Heather Young-Nichols

  “So tell me more about your family.” I took a bite from my sandwich. Maybe too big by the grin covering his face.

  “Like what?” Gio shifted his weight around and swallowed hard. If he weren’t so damn confident, I’d say he my question made him uncomfortable.

  “What do your parents do?” Because he’d told me next to nothing. Instead, he wanted to play twenty questions to get it out of him.

  “They’re corporate types.” When I groaned, he frowned and cocked his head to the side, questioning me.

  “Oh, I’m sorry. I’m sure they’re great. It’s just,” I swallowed hard. “We’ve had this corporation trying to buy Gramps out for the last few of years. They’re pushy. He thought about selling for a while.”

  “He did?”

  His mouth fell open and his eyebrows shot up.

  I laughed and said, “I looked like that too when he suggested it.” Romano’s was home to Gramps and me which meant I almost had a stroke when Gramps told me he’d seriously thought about selling. “Yeah, after Grams died a couple of years ago, his heart wasn’t in it.”

  “What stopped him?”

  “Me. He knows I love this town and the restaurant and that I planned to come here permanently after college.” I tucked a sliver of hair behind my ear. “Plus the recipe for our sauce was part of the deal and that’s been a secret for generations. He’d only ever pass that on to me and would never share is outside the family. Like ever.”

  “So, he makes all the sauce?”

  “Yup. Every day and he does it alone.”

  Gio seemed to consider my answer more heavily than I would have expected. He became still and his gaze unfocused not seeing me or anything else around us. We needed a change of subject. I didn’t want to spend the entire night talking about work.

  “You’re staying at the old lady Wardin’s?” I asked.

  “She’s not that old.”

  “Uh, oh, be careful.” I smiled. She had a way of playing the damsel in distress that somehow roped guys into thinking she was harmless instead of the unrelenting cougar she really was. “She already has you in arms reach.”

  “What’s that mean?” His brows furrowed.

  “She likes her men…” I tapped my chin while I tried to find the right words. “Young and temporary, if you know what I mean,” I added an obvious wink for effect. His jaw dropped and his eyes popped.

  “I can’t believe you said that. She’s in her sixties.”

  Nodding like a fool, I said, “I know. Doesn’t matter. Trust me, before the end of summer she’ll try to have you in her bed. So, be careful…I mean unless you like the cougar thing.” The inside of my cheek pinched between my teeth as I tried not to giggle. The idea was ridiculous.

  “I think I can keep her at bay. At least until I see where this is going.” He motioned between the two of us.

  Without thinking, I slapped his arm playfully. If I’m being honest, I’d keep it up to hear his laugh a little while longer. It was deep and genuine and made me warm all over. I didn’t get to hear it often enough. After peppering him with a dozen more questions, Gio let out another low laugh.

  “What?” I asked as he gave me a sidelong gaze.

  “You ask a lot of questions.”

  “How else am I supposed to get to know you? You barely offer anything up.”

  “Why do you want to know so much?” He didn’t understand my curiosity. I shrugged trying to play off the magnitude of my answer. I wanted to know everything. I mean everything.

  So, I took a deep breath and employed something he had with me before. Honesty.

  “Because I like you.”

  Throwing everything back in the basket, Gio crossed the blanket, moving slowly until I could feel the heat radiating from his skin and there were only centimeters keeping our lips from touching. My palms began sweating, my breath caught in my throat and I wet my lips as I thought about resisting the need forming in my belly.

  He held my eyes, turning my heart turned into a horse in the Kentucky Derby. I squirmed from the low heat spreading through my abdomen until I couldn’t take it anymore. I moved slowly so I wouldn’t take him by surprise and he could stop me if he wanted to. My lips barely touched his when he flipped me around onto my back then he slid in next to me, a leg thrown between mine. The sand molded around my back creating a natural hammock that he pressed me into.

  There’d be no going back to friends after this.

  I didn’t want to fight it anymore. I was done.

  The kiss started out as me asserting myself, then slowed into one I’d never forget. His intentional and expert tongue heightened my need to be near him. When my lips parted for him, he didn’t hesitate running his tongue against mine slow enough to make me moan and squirm under him even more. Down girl. Gio groaned while running his hand up the outside of my thigh right up to the point he’d almost be going for the touchdown. But then he stopped. He. Just. Stopped.

  Pulling back and giving me the oddest look, he moved his hands to cup my face then kissed me again. This time it was different. Everything was softer and slower as if he wanted to take his time and savor every moment. I wanted that, too and didn’t have the brain power to even try to decipher what was going through his head. Right then I didn’t even care.

  After not nearly long enough, he placed two more soft closed mouth kisses on my lips then fell in beside me, each of us gazing up at the stars. I wanted something to focus on. He must have felt the same way, too.

  We made our way slowly back to his truck then to my apartment keeping the conversation light along the way. There was something about him. Masculine without being too cocky. I couldn’t put my finger on it. He wasn’t afraid to show his interest, a plus as far as I was concerned.

  How did I get lucky enough that he decided to land in Harbor Point? I didn’t know and I wasn’t going to question it anymore.

  “I’ll see you in the morning?” he asked right as we got to the door of my apartment.

  “I’m doing an errand for Ms. Kelly. She was my grandma’s best friend for sixty years.” We both leaned against the old garage like we weren’t quite ready for the night to end. “Must be kind of like losing a spouse, you know. After so long.”

  “Probably.” He shrugged showing how uncomfortable he’d gotten with our new line of conversation. I’d known guys who had commitment issues, namely Nick, and guys who weren’t into the touchy-feely stuff. Neither applied to Gio. I didn’t think commitment was an issue after the way I’d turned him down and he refused to accept it.

  “So, tomorrow afternoon then.” Gio leaned in to kiss me. His mouth pressed against mine, hot and demanding, licking and nipping until I opened to let him in. His tongues stroked mine in a slow continuation of the kiss we’d had on the beach. He pressed harder, increasing the pace again like he wanted more. So did I. When he slid his hand into my hair cupping my face, I pushed my body against him. He groaned and pulled away making me miss his warmth almost immediately. But then he left. He didn’t try to weasel his way into my apartment, which I would have tried not to let happen. But let’s face it. Me keeping Gio at arm’s length became a memory. It wasn’t possible for me to do it any longer.

  ***

  In the break room, I stood at my little locker in the middle of a line of twelve—a square big enough for a jacket and purse. Sometimes we shared. We used them mostly in case any tourists wandered back there than safety from each other. After tying the small half-apron behind my back, I pulled my hair back into a messy bun. Yuck. My skin prickled that feeling of someone’s eyes on me, watching me too closely.

  “Shit!” I jumped when I turned around to find Gio standing inches from me. “Ugh, wear a bell or something.”

  His laughed low and quiet. “Sorry. I like it when you don’t know I’m watching.”

  I tried to shove him away but he grabbed my hand before it made contact with his chest. In one quick movement, my body became flush with his and his lips devoured mine. Him sliding agai
nst me brought my body to a new level of alert, aware of every single spot where he touched me. It still wasn’t enough. After pulling back, both of us out of breath, he rested his forehead against mine until we settled down a bit.

  “I’ve thought about kissing you all morning.” One last peck on my temple and he was gone.

  The restaurant kept me busy all day, from orders to delivering food, and I wanted to go home long before my shift ended. It didn’t help matters when some douchey college guys were seated in my section making my life miserable with their sexist comments and observations about my body they didn’t think I could hear. Apparently, my ass was off the hook. Idiots. If they’d been in Carly’s section, she might have thrown their drinks in their face or kicked them in the nuts at that point which would’ve been worse. It happened pretty regularly and I’d gotten used to it a long time ago, but today, it bugged the shit out of me and I wish I could be impulsive and channel Carly for a few minutes.

  “Decide what you want?” I asked with the same cheerful smile I used with all the customers, even when I wanted to knee them in the balls.

  “Are you on the menu?” The blonde to the left asked. I rolled my eyes not caring if they could see it. Seriously. It wasn’t even original.

  “So, pizza? What size?” Again with the fake sweetness and ignoring his question. The dark haired kid by the window placed their order for the Neanderthals who couldn’t be bothered. I gave him an honest smile. Usually, in packs of douchey guys, there seemed to be one that could act human.

  “I don’t know. You look like the perfect handful,” Douche said air cupping his nonexistence breasts as I finished jotting down the order. Gross.

  “I’ll put the order in.”

  “How about your number then?” Blondie asked before I could turn away. He’d been drinking. The smell of his breath could have gagged a maggot, as Gramps would say and his words slurred slightly. I also knew I wouldn’t be serving any of them any beer. They’d had enough before they got there. “Can’t give it out to customers.”

  Finally trying to walk away, Blondie grabbed my arm, spun me around, knocking me off balance so I landed on his lap. The hardness that met me when my body touched his made me want to elbow him in the face.

  “Get your hands off me,” I said through clenched teeth. I pushed off him, about to kick him out because Gramps didn’t like the guys who got handsy or loud. This time he jumped up, grabbed me by the wrist and jerked me toward him again. I hit his chest with a thump hard enough to make my teeth clank together. Fuck, it hurt.

  “Come on, baby—” This wasn’t the first time a customer got over aggressive. “Promise you won’t regret it.”

  A whole slew of words I usually tried not to use in the restaurant were about to spill from my mouth but never got the chance.

  “I’m pretty sure she said to let her go.” Gio stood behind me, his arms crossed at the chest, making his biceps pop ridiculously. His tattoos made him look even more menacing. The fingers around my wrist tightened a little then released with a shove.

  Gio pushed forward bending slightly so he and Blondie were eye to eye. “And if you touch her again, I’ll be back. It’ll be fun for me but not as much for you.” The guys held tense gazes for ten more seconds before Gio snapped back up straight.

  We walked away together. At the counter where we entered order tickets into the computer, Gio leaned toward me and quietly asked, “You ok?”

  “Oh…yeah. The college guys can sometimes get … handsy.”

  “I don’t like it.”

  My eyes flit up to him. His face showed his desire to go back and pummel the guy, the tense muscles begged for the release of the anger he had tight control of. “Me either. How did you know there was even an issue?”

  “Brian, in the kitchen, said someone was manhandling my woman.”

  “You’re woman?” I cocked an eyebrow his way.

  “His words, not mine,” he answered holding his hands up defensively. When I mocked him with the same movements, the tiny little hint of a grin he had fallen away. His gaze fell on my wrist. Taking it gently in his hand he carefully looked over the red mark the douche canoe had left, like a tiny rope burn which would be gone in the morning. “I’ll walk you home tonight.”

  I nodded as he went back through the door to the kitchen even though it hadn’t been a question.

  Chapter Six

  Gio walked me home that night and every night he could. More than once we spent too much time on my couch making out before he left for the night, which I hadn’t done since high school. In my world, heated kissing typically led to sex, exactly how I liked it, to be honest. But with Gio, we stopped before it went too far which left me confused. Guys were the ones who were supposed to take cold showers but damn, I needed it more than once.

  At least we made plans for an actual date for Friday night. He wanted to take me out again but I offered to cook at my place which surprised him and he tried talking me out of it. He said it wasn’t necessary. It was too much trouble. I wondered if anyone had ever done nice things for him before because he sucked at accepting it.

  The aroma of fresh herbs filled my apartment.

  I pulled the oven open to check the chicken and vegetables then dipped a spoon into the Alfredo sauce I made from scratch. It still needed a dash of pepper. I did three turns of the pepper grinder, stirred and tasted again. Perfect. Time to drain the penne pasta, the steam made me lean back to keep from getting a steam facial. I mixed it in with the pasta then turned the oven off.

  Everything was ready.

  Returning to my bedroom, I did one final turn in front of the full-length mirror. Just as I dabbed a little lip gloss on there was a knock at my door. A last scrunching of my curls and I scurried to the door, took a deep breath then turned the knob to let him in.

  Wow. His jeans hung low and hugged all the right places as did the white t-shirt. He was really testing that elasticity of that material. I bit my lips together and took a deep breath before offering him a seat at the table.

  After a few minute of normal chatter, while we ate, I turned into my questioning self.

  “Does anyone ever do anything for you?”

  “What’d you mean?” He looked confused.

  I shrugged. “You seemed surprised when I said I wanted to cook for you.”

  “Oh,” he sighed, “not really. Women usually want a guy to take them out. To wow them. You don’t.”

  “Well, I like to be wowed, just in a different way.” His brows furrowed begging for an explanation. “I want you to be you. To know what you’re thinking. Stuff like that. Wowing me is putting that douche in his place the other night.”

  “But that’s easy.” He growled low in his chest. “When I saw you pressed up against him trying to break his hold, I wanted to rip his throat out. So…”

  “He got off easy?” I threw him a playful smirk to try and lighten the mood.

  “Pretty much.”

  The best part of the situation was I knew he would have done the same thing if it had been Carly or one of the other girls. Yes, we were dating, naturally, he’d feel protective of me, but he would’ve stepped in no matter who it was. I knew this part of Gio. Now, I needed the part of Gio I didn’t know.

  “Do you see your family much?” I asked taking a small bite of chicken.

  “Unfortunately, I see them pretty often.” He didn’t look up at me.

  “Come on.” I sighed. “There’s a story there. Why won’t you tell me it?”

  Gio shook his head. “There really isn’t much to tell. Not everyone’s family is close, Bianca. Not everyone’s should be.”

  “Is there anyone you like that you’re related to?”

  “I like my sister. Most of the time and I like my cousin. That about sums it up.”

  After dinner and a long time talking as we sat at the table, Gio helped with dishes and it was comfortable sharing my space with him. There came a point when I no longer wanted any space between us. I wanted hi
m and didn’t want to wait. Dropping the plate I’d been washing back into the soapy water, I inched my way closer, keeping our eyes locked. My body hummed with anticipation and the need to be close to his hard body. His eyes smoldered.

  Wrapping his arms around me tightly, his body heat warming my skin, he created a cocoon where only we existed. His lips touching mine and the fluttering in my stomach left me breathless. His arms snaked up my back and his fingers fisted in my hair. He pulled and a moan escaped my mouth. God, I wanted him even closer.

  He lifted me onto the counter next to the sink, putting us at eye level. His hands slid up to cup my cheeks which held me in place as if I might somehow go somewhere. Not gonna happen. He didn’t tease me at all before yanking my shirt over my head, letting it hit the floor before his lips were back on mine and he nudged himself between my knees. He pulled me to the edge of the countertop, his erection pushed into my thigh making me groan into his mouth again. I felt what he had to offer and was more than willing to accept. The way my body responded to his every touch burned through my skin. My breath came out in embarrassing pants. I needed to get it under control but the desire burning through me couldn’t be contained.

  Gio’s lips traced my jaw and down my neck until they reached the valley between my breasts, a move I felt all the way to my toes, turning my insides liquid. Seriously, it’d been too long. And because I’d always been the kind of girl who got where I needed to go easily, an orgasm sat precariously perched inside me waiting to let loose. Hell, he hadn’t even started really touching me and I was about to come undone. I knew that with the slightest touch, I’d crack wide open.

  Suddenly, he stopped. Both of his hands fisted against the counter on either side of my thighs while his head dropped as he stared at the floor, his eyes squeezed shut. What the what? I wondered what I may have done wrong but nothing came to mind, tried to find the moment when things had changed but there wasn’t one. He took deep breaths but avoided any eye contact with me.